Securities Arbitration Lawyers BlogFormer Arvest Broker Joe D. Treece Under Investigation for Allegedly Borrowing Money from a Client
Silver Law Group is investigating former Arkansas-based Arvest Wealth Management (CRD# 42057) broker Joe D. Treece (CRD# 2925735) after FINRA and other state regulators barred him from acting as a broker.
According to Treece’s FINRA BrokerCheck, FINRA permanently barred Treece in October 2016 from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities to the public after Treece failed to respond to a FINRA request for information.
FINRA then suspended him, according to his BrokerCheck report, in December 2016 after Treece failed to comply with an arbitration award or settlement agreement or failed to satisfactorily respond to a FINRA request to provide information concerning the status of compliance.
The FINRA sanctions followed Treece’s discharge from Arvest. Arvest discharged Treece after a customer alleged embezzlement, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. Additionally, the customer alleged Treece made numerous buy/sell transactions in the customer’s accounts at other brokerage firms with the sole purpose to generate commissions.
In December 2016, the state of Arkansas revoked Treece’s license for allegedly borrowing money from a client on two occasions. One month later, the Oklahoma Department of Securities barred Treece for the same allegations.
FINRA Rule 3240 entails policies concerning customer loans to brokers. The rule states that no person associated with a member in any registered capacity may borrow money from or lend money to any customer of such person unless certain requirements are met.
Some of the requirements include but are not limited to the member firm having procedures allowing lending or borrowing, the customer is a member of the broker’s immediate family, or the lending arrangement is based on a business relationship outside the broker-customer relationship.
In addition to any of the exceptions, the broker must notify the member firm of the borrowing or lending arrangements and request approval, unless the member firm allows otherwise.
Arvest employed Treece from June 2013 to December 2015 at its Bentonville, Arkansas locations. Prior to that, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (CRD# 705) employed Treece from August 2011 to June 2013 in its Rogers, Arkansas branch.
Contact Our Firm if You’ve Lost Money Investing
FINRA arbitration is a fast, efficient way to recover your lost investment funds. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay us nothing unless we win and recover money for you.
If you have invested with Joe D. Treece and Arvest Wealth Management and/or Raymond James & Associates and have lost money doing so, you may be able to recover some or all of your losses. Our lawyers are experienced in recovering investor losses due to broker and brokerage firm misconduct through FINRA arbitration.
Silver Law Group represents the interests of investors who have been the victims of investment fraud. If you have questions about your legal rights, please contact Scott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.